


Swell

by Xyriath



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist - All Media Types
Genre: Beaches, Ed-level cursing, M/M, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Vacation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-27
Updated: 2016-04-27
Packaged: 2018-06-04 18:58:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,535
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6670975
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Xyriath/pseuds/Xyriath
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Edward Elric has never done anything with less than a hundred percent effort.  Not even vacations.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Swell

**Author's Note:**

  * For [bmmboo](https://archiveofourown.org/users/bmmboo/gifts).



> Commission for Bmmboo; theme was relaxation/destress. Thank you so much!

So maybe, Ed thought, as he looked over the pristine white sand and glittering azure water of the Aerugan coast, there were perks to being a “good friend” of the Fuhrer.

At least, when that Fuhrer was Roy Mustang.  Havoc’s business connections had paid off when Ed had asked, and he had no illusions about how difficult this vacation location would have been to find otherwise: a secluded, pleasant little cottage, with a back door that opened straight onto the beach.  The private property with no one else in sight meant that they were unlikely to get any unwanted visitors, and besides the few people who absolutely needed to, _no one_ knew that they were out there.

And though he had never been one for peace and quiet, since he and Roy had begun seeing each other, years ago, he had learned the value of it.  If not for himself, then for a certain political leader who seemed hell-bent on working himself to death.

Ed regretted ever thinking that Roy Mustang was lazy: his slacking, like so many other things, had been a front for his ambition, and now that his ambition was safe to show…

…Ed sometimes had to be the one to put his steel foot down and say, “Enough is enough.  We’re taking a fuckin’ vacation.”

“Who knew sand could actually _not_ look like death?” he mused, toeing his bare flesh foot into it, though the rest of him stayed firmly on the porch.  “It’s _soft._   There’s _water._ ”

“Just because you’ve caused exceeding amounts of trouble in the desert, Edward, doesn’t mean that sand is out to get you.”

“I fucking know that!” Ed snapped, turning to sulk halfheartedly in Roy’s direction.  At the peace offering of wine, however, its dark red color one of Ed’s favorites, the faux grumpy expression immediately melted away into a bright grin.

“Hey!”  Ed snagged it from Roy’s outstretched hand, sniffing at it.  “Is this…?”

“Real Aerugan wine, yes.  And even better than what we now get in Amestris.”

Ed closed his eyes, inhaling the complex scent: it was like no other, his younger self had learned with much chagrin, back in the days when importing a product from an Amestrian enemy was nearly impossible.  But now…  “Here’s to peace, then, and the most successful Fuhrer Amestris has ever known.”  He cracked an eyelid.  “And the one with the best dick,” he finished with a smirk.

“I _sincerely_ hope you’re not speaking from firsthand experience.”  But Roy was smirking too, and he clinked their glasses together.  “To peace, and trade, and success, and building a country up instead of tearing it apart.”

Ed beamed brilliantly at Roy, unable to keep up even a semblance of playful antagonism, not when they were alone, together, secluded, and they had an entire week ahead of them.  With all of that, how could he keep his sincerity from showing through?  Especially when it earned him one of Roy’s fond smiles in return?

Of course, he also had other matters to attend to.  With a pleased noise, he returned his attention to the wine.

When he glanced up, however, Roy’s expression had shifted some: from fond, to absolutely blessed.  He hadn’t touched his wine.

And he was looking straight at Ed.

Even after all these years, Ed could feel the flush building in his cheeks, hid his face a little bit in the wine glass, and had to look away and try to keep from grinning like a _total_ idiot.

—

“Hope that this time, I’m not shaking sand out of my foot for a week,” Ed grumbled, but this just earned him a chuckle from Roy.

“I’m sure If your automail has survived up to this point, it will be absolutely fine.”  He forestalled any further complaining on Ed’s part by squeezing the hand held in Roy’s.  Ed, of course, melted a little bit at that, grin spreading across his face.

The water lapping up between his toes fit the mood, the idyllic rhythm of the waves crashing off the shore, then rushing towards them, swishing in with surprising gentleness around their bare legs.

A sanctuary, for the two of them.  The tumultuous chaos off in the distance, unable to reach them.  Unable to reach _Roy._

Ed turned his head towards the sea.  Towards Roy.  Magnificent of a sight as the former was, Roy pulled Ed’s attention, just as he always did.

When Roy smiled, the lines on his face deepened, and even with Roy serene like this, they showed more than they used to.  When had Roy’s hair greyed so much?  The black still overwhelmed from a distance, but when Ed stood this close, the silver threading through threatened to overtake it.

Ed’s chest tightened, and he inhaled, soft and sharp, at the actual, _physical_ ache.

“What?

He blinked, and Roy’s face focused into view.  “What—“

“You were staring.”  Roy’s slow smile sent Ed’s already aching heart skittering to somewhere in the vicinity of his throat.  “Should I be worried?”

“No!” Ed burst out.  “No fuckin’ way—“

“I’m already worrying about Amestris being set ablaze, or possibly exploding, in my absence; it’s not as if it will be much more to the mess,” Roy replied reasonably.

Ed stopped, turned, and grabbed Roy’s other hand.  “No,” he whispered fiercely, eyes gleaming.  “No.  This is the no worries allowed zone, got it?  Your people know what they’re doing.  You’ve left things in good shape.  It will be _fine_ , and you _will_ enjoy this week with me.”

Roy’s expression softened into something nauseatingly fond, and he lifted the hands to gently kiss the back of Ed’s, one after the other.  “As you wish.”

“Good.”  With a sharp huff, Ed dropped his right hand, tugging with his left.  “Now let’s finish this goddamn walk.”

—

While Ed did find Roy’s tendency to sunburn secretly amusing, he didn’t want this vacation to be marred with it.  To prevent this, and to soothe Roy’s suspicion of exposing too much skin to the sun, he had Roy strip to his bathing suit and lay down on a towel.

“That feels nice,” Roy murmured as Ed’s fingers worked the sunblock lotion into Roy’s back.  Ed had specifically ensured that his massage skills were up to par for this trip—who would have guessed that Al would know so much about it?  It wasn’t the _real_ thing, but Roy’s pleased humming below his hands told Ed that he had hit on “close enough.”

“I’ll bet it does.”  Ed leaned forward to press a kiss between Roy’s shoulder blades… then promptly grimaced at the taste of the lotion. "Now roll over."

Roy did, and with far more exerted groaning than was necessary.  Ed huffed softly, flicking Roy’s belly button, before starting his rubbing again, this time on Roy’s chest.

The sunscreen turned into lounging, which turned into Ed preoccupying himself with mounding the sand over an indulgent Roy’s legs.  This turned into full-on sculpture once Ed got his hands on and discovered the versatility of the wet sand, and the two of them sat in silence, Ed in concentration and Roy in fascination, as Ed created a masterpiece.

“Done,” Ed proclaimed, grinning down at the mermaid tail, complete with jagged fins and intricate scales, that he had constructed in the sand over Roy’s legs.

“You’re going to kill me if I move, aren’t you?”

“Yep.”

—

Ed had never seen the ocean before.

He had seen large lakes, and beaches, and deserts.  He had _read_ about the ocean, of course, but hearing about it on paper and _seeing_ it, seeing this apparently endless expanse that stretched out beyond imagination, left him hard pressed to catch his breath.  The azure sea had darkened, then set itself ablaze with fiery reds and oranges and yellows, and Ed could feel Roy’s chest rise and fall behind him as he leaned back idly.  Roy had wrapped his arms around Ed’s waist, and his head rested on Ed’s as the two of them watched the sunset, the red disc slipping below the line of the horizon.

“Beautiful,” Ed murmured, and it floored him, the sight, how it could make him feel so small and at peace at the same time.  He really never had been one for sentimental gaping at pretty things, but… well, shit, after so many years with Roy, the guy rubbed off on you.

“Yes,” Roy murmured, nuzzling into Ed’s hair.  “You are.”

Well, at least he’d never be as fucking sappy as _that._

Ed scoffed, glad that Roy couldn’t see the faint flush on his face, and that he could have blamed it on the brilliant red display in front of the anyway.  Still, he leaned back into Roy as he scuffed his right foot in the sand, enjoying the damp, scratchy sensation.

“You’re never gonna stop that shit, are you,” Ed murmured, but Roy would hear the warmth in his voice.  The unspoken words.  _Never stop._

“Not a chance,” Roy breathed into his ear, and Ed closed his eyes, inhaling slowly.  The salt, the sand, the fresh air.  _Roy._

Among all of it, they were here together.  And as he opened his eyes again, Ed could truly understand the meaning of “paradise.”


End file.
